Weekly Blog #2

Clay Shirky had a few things to say about the Obama administration’s use of media in his Ted Talk. First, he pointed out how mature they were in NOT restricting the people’s right to gather and complain. He commended Obama for responding to the people and letting him know that their voices were not falling on deaf ears. Second, he respected Obama’s choice to peacefully acknowledge the online conversations rather than ignore them or stir the pot for the sake of rubbing it in their face.

As far as political candidates that used social media really well? Well, I would have to include Donald Trump — someone who ran for president to boost his own business and ended up winning. He managed to play the entire scene of “media” to his advantage: gaining so much coverage for his inflammatory statements that the other candidates had hardly any screen time or press coverage. Bernie Sanders, whether intentional or not, tends to see a lot of popularity online. While neither of these examples would probably not fall into Clay Shirky’s idea of “mature” media use, you cannot deny that both candidates have left their mark on the landscape of social media.